Flowers For A Ghost
by DeathOnPaws
Summary: Black Leopard is trapped in an asylum, where she doesn't belong. She resides in cell number seven, where it is rumored that a patient killed themself 200 years ago. Could the rumor be true? Could this lead to a possible escape?
1. Chapter One

**Flowers for a Ghost**

Chapter One

Black Leopard had been told countless times that she _belonged here. _Belonged in this hellhole of an asylum with no one but toons who were absolutely off the wall; complete lunatics._ Is it possible that I do belong here? _Black Leopard would think many times to herself. After spending the last 14 years of your life in a more-than-200-year-old asylum with no support from anyone. The black cat only had two other friends who were _decent_. They were all in this together. Since she had been thrown into the small cell that she referred to as home, Black Leopard had broken down and decided she needed _someone, anyone _to talk to other than the horrid staff. The friends she had come to know were named Socks and Green Queen. She had been in here almost as long as she could remember. It all began after the first mental breakdown at Professor Pete's schoolhouse, back when she was just a young black kitten, attending her first day of school.

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><p><em>The leaves shown beautifully in the sunlight, producing radiant splashes of green all around Toontown Central. Black Leopard was ready to attend her first day of school and couldn't wait to begin. She had waited all of her baby toon years to experience this; to feel like a "big toon".<em>

_The little black cat skipped merrily on her way to the schoolhouse, eager to meet the new challenges that lie ahead. A brilliant bright pink bow was fastened above her head, clinging onto her ebony fur. Her mother and father had fixed up Black Leopard's clothes and accessories very delicately for this specific occasion._

_As the floorboards creaked, Black Leopard felt herself jump at the eery sound. The room was filled with toons. Savage looking toons, to be exact. They were either sleeping at their assigned seat, some were jumping around like maniacs, others were working with odd contraptions in which they called "spitballs". The black cat fled nervously to where her name tag was set, perched atop a clean looking table. She neatly organized her folders and stacked everything up, in alphabetical order. Isn't that the way things should be?_

_Professor Pete rose from his desk to stand in the front of the room, looking quite confident. "Settle down, toons." He cajoled, with the slightest hint of authority. The classroom went dead silent as everyone slid into their correct seats. "Thank you." The teacher nodded in approval._

_"Let's start the day off with some get-to-know-you games." Professor Pete smiled and glanced around the room, "How about you start, American Tragedy? Tell us one thing you like to do."_

_"I like to-" The student was cut short by the telephone in the back of the room. It began to ring loudly, grabbing everyone's attention._

_Professor Pete blinked sympathetically, "I'm so sorry, please excuse me." The teacher said as he hustled towards the phone._

_"Oh hello, what can I do for you?..." The phone conversation dragged on, "What was that?" A look of distress flickered deep within the professor's eyes. Black Leopard could feel tension rising in the air, "I see." He appeared to be grim, and turned to face the class slowly. The teacher's eyes rested on none other but Black Leopard._

_The black cat gulped. This was not going to be good, any idiot could see that._

_"I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, Black Leopard, but your parents died this morning in a car crash on their way to work." Professor Pete said, enunciating every word carefully. _

_Black Leopard stared, as if in a trance. There was utter silence, and it was just too much to take for the poor toon. Inside her head, something must have suddenly snapped. The black cat's eyes flew open wide and did what any normal toon would do – scream._

_Distress and fear pulsed from the small toon. She felt as though her mind was clouding over with poison and it was becoming impossible to breathe correctly. Black Leopard fell to the floor, pounding against the surface as hard as she could. Pain is something she wanted to get rid of and the only way she knew how was to replace it with more pain._

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><p>The rest of how she got to this psycho house was forgotten. The only memory she had was being dragged away by two toons, both of which were not trying to be careful by any means with her fragile body. <em>Not that it matters. <em>Black Leopard told herself mentally. _Nothing matters. I'll never be getting out of here, so who cares what happens to me or anyone else trapped in here? _

"I want to die." The black cat bluntly said to no one in particular, knowing there would be no response. A few times, Green Queen, the lime green cat who shared the cell directly neighboring hers would talk to Leopard, just to keep her company. They'd bond over things such as how awful the nurses and psychiatrists were. _The psychiatrists.. _The black cat repeated in her head. They were even worse than the nurses. She'd heard gruesome stories about how they'd dissect toons' body parts, which was utterly wrong in Leopard's opinion. Sometimes, she believed the patients were more sane than the staff members.

Leopard looked across the hallway to where the illuminated clock was; it read 4:29 AM. _The only good thing about being in this fucking hell is there is no set bedtime. _The only "set" bedtime was when the staff gave you a shot and, for Leopard, would make her extremely sleepy, then shortly after she'd fall into a state of unconsciousness.

Leopard kicked the side of her cell wall. On three sides of her was complete stone, maybe brick, and on the other side, there was a steel door with a wall, and a large window, made of fiber glass. If you pounded on the window too hard, it would set off an alarm and the staff would come running like mad dogs.. this was one thing the black cat had learned from too many years of being in this place.

Another thing she had learned, was the fact that she had cell number 7. One that most staff members would steer clear of, for no known reason. Socks, a black cat who was directly across the hallway had said that it was supposedly haunted by a ghost of a patient who had committed suicide here, back when the facility was first built. Leopard learned to believe her friends, especially Socks, who had been here quite a while, when they told tales about the building. Over the last 14 years, Black Leopard _had _noticed paranormal activity, but brushed it off each time. It wasn't that the cat didn't believe in ghosts, it was more so because she didn't care enough. _If the ghosts don't hurt me, I don't hurt them. _Had always been her opinion on the matter.

But she was _not _expecting what she was about to experience.

Black Leopard slouched against the stone wall on her uncomfortable small cot. Err, "bed". The nightstand, with her family photos, and pen and paper was perfectly still until the pen suddenly rolled off the table. Leopard stared at the scene confusedly. She sighed, and picked the pen back up, and put it in it's rightful place.

The black cat groaned, "Get me out of here." She rolled in her bed, trying to find a spot where she could comfortably lay. Her ears twitched when the sound of the pen was heard, writing on the paper. She twisted so she could see what the hell was going on with the pen. It lay back in its place, once more. But something was different.

The notepad had a message on it.

Leopard leaned over and squinted to make out the sloppy handwriting in the dark. It said, 'what are you doing here'. She gasped, wondering if Socks' tales of the ghost being unfriendly were true. A sudden fear washed over her, making Leopard pale slightly.

"Are... are you... a g-ghost?" She asked, quivering.

The pen wrote on the pad again. This time, it said, 'yes, i'm dead and this is my cell'.

Leopard was about to bang on the walls and scream for someone to get her out, but she refrained. "Who are you?" The black cat questioned, still scared out of her mind.

'Lily Mizzenpop'. The notepad read. The name sounded familiar; it must have been mentioned in one of Socks' stories about her cell. There was no way she could alert Socks without waking the guards, and Green Queen was one of the heaviest sleepers you'd ever meet. _This time, I'm on my own. _

Black Leopard looked around just to be sure she didn't attract any unwanted attention before continuing to speak, "Can you... you know.. show yourself? I want to see you."

She sat for minutes, with no noise or response. "Did you leave?" Leopard wondered, almost sadly. She decided to try a different question, "Can you get me out of here?"

Almost immediately, a loud alarm went off. _What did I do? _Black Leopard panicked. She had only set off an alarm once before, and that was only because she was doped up on medication. Banging on the fiber glass had been her only offense before this.

Guards rushed into her cell, ready to grab Leopard and drag her away to the medical part of the asylum. There was no use in fighting them, it was impossible. They didn't allow the patients enough exercise to amount to any muscle mass.

"Take 'er down!" One of the guards screeched from the doorway. They ran towards her, but stopped dead in their tracks when – _CRASH!_ - an ear-piercing shattering noise resounded throughout the cell.

The clock from down the hallway had fallen to its doom, and shattered to a million tiny pieces, scattered across the hallway. _Socks. _Leopard thought. _Thank you. She must have kicked the wall so that the clock fell. _

The guards exited the cell, locking it behind them. Leopard ran over to the glass window, ready to thank Socks, but she was sound asleep in her own cot. _Did the clock just fall by itself? Or... _Her thoughts were put directly into words, "Did you do that, Lily?"

The pen started to move. The black cat leaned over to read her writing, it said, 'yes'.

"Thanks.. you.. you saved me." Leopard said in disbelief.

'you're welcome', The notepad read.

"Please, please show yourself, Lily." Leopard begged, hoping she could see her rescuer.

From the opposite wall, came a yellow cat-like figure. Once it came closer to where Black Leopard stood, she could make out a short yellow cat with crystal-blue eyes.

Leopard gasped, "...Wow."

Lily nodded; it appeared she was kind of sad. "Yeah," Was all she replied, her tone lacking the certain life-like features.

"Thanks, again. For you know.. the clock." Leopard managed to choke out, still shocked by a ghost's presence.

The yellow cat shrugged, as if the whole thing meant nothing. "You're welcome. It's the least I can do for someone strong enough to stay alive in here."

"Stay alive?" The black cat questioned.

"Yes," Lily's lips twitched upwards in a small smirk, "I'm sure you know how absolutely wonderful this place is."

"_This hell is.._" Leopard corrected under her breath, "So you're really a ghost?"

Lily nodded, looking around at the rest of the cell. "Yeah."

"How... how did you die?" She asked quietly, hoping this wasn't a question that would upset her new found friend.

Lily pierced her blue eyes into Leopard's, her expression unchanging, "I killed myself."

_So the rumors were true._

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><p><strong>The end of chapter one. This has been a great fanfiction to write so far; hope everyone else likes it as much as I do. Enjoy. :) I'll be updating soon.<strong>

_**~This one is for you, Jordyn. The real Lily Mizzenpop.~**_


	2. Chapter Two

**Flowers for a Ghost**

Chapter Two

Leopard fidgeted uncomfortably with the newfound information. It was hard to accept the rumors weren't _rumors. _They were real. "Why? Well.. Not really.. I know _why.._"

Lily silenced her with another stunning light blue gaze. "You don't know why." She corrected, stating it as a fact rather than placing malice into the sentence. "Nobody knew." Lily groaned, moving her eyes around the cell, "Funny how everything looks almost the same as it did 200 years ago." Despite her bitterness towards the asylum, Black Leopard had to agree it was the only home both of them ever knew.

It was hard for Leopard to remember anything about her parents other than the day Professor Pete had told her they were dead.

The black cat followed the ghost's eyes, taking in her cell that she had grown so used to. _As if they'd ever change something for the pleasure of a patient. They think we are incapable of holding coherent thoughts. _"It... is?" She questioned Lily, though didn't doubt her for a minute. Lily's ghost evidently knew more about the asylum than anyone she had met before.

"Mhm." Lily hummed, looking around her old cell. "Cell seven."

"Do you miss it?" Leopard asked. She knew the answer. _No toon would miss this place._

Lily rolled her eyes, "I miss the toons. Not the place or the doctors who run it." Leopard wandered over to her bed, flopping down. It was late. _I need rest too, even though it's hard to sleep when it feels like the walls are closing in around you. Tomorrow, I have appointments with my doctor.. and if he thinks I'm losing sleep, I'll only ruin what I've been hoping for: a way out of this miserable asylum._

Leopard knew for a fact that the majority of patients trapped here turned out to be excellent companions, but felt the need to ask anyway. "Who do you miss from here?"

"Well.. There was Roxy's Joyful Uber.." The yellow cat trailed off, features darkening, "She was the one person that I gave two shits about."

"Roxy's Joyful Uber? Never heard of her."

Lily shook her head, "The asylum has done a marvelous job of covering up the heroes of this place. They never told you about me, nor will they ever tell you about Roxy. She was brave. She tried to escape this Hell with me."

Leopard gasped; She had no idea people tried to _escape. Wouldn't that make you seem more insane than the doctors already think you are? _"What happened?" She whispered softly, interest filling her eyes.

Lily shrugged. "We planned an escape. We didn't make it." Bitterness edged into her voice. It served as the clear warning to not ask any more questions about this certain incident. "I came here a long time ago. I've seen way too many things happen to the poor souls who wind up stuck. We need to get you out of here; This isn't where you belong." Lily spoke, her lovely blue eyes acquiring a new sense of determination in them.

Leopard nodded, she agreed completely and was relieved another toon thought she didn't belong here as well. It renewed a small amount of hope stored within the black cat – just the _thought _of escaping made her anxious and eager.

"Hey, Leopard! When did you get up?" Socks, the black cat across the hall called over, waving in a friendly manner. Socks was one of her best friends; A toon that she could console with.

Leopard jumped upon hearing the voice. It wasn't someone she expected to be up at 5:30 in the morning."Socks?"

"Mornin'!" She replied, smiling. It was beyond Leopard as to how someone could stay so positive while being forced into a mental institution. "Who were you talking to?" _Can't you see Lily? She's standing right here._

"Lily Mizzenpop.. You know, the toon that you said killed herself?" Black Leopard looked to where Lily had been standing, wondering if it wasn't in Socks' plain line of vision.. It was. She could see the yellow cat perfectly. "Lily? This is Socks. Her and I are really close friends."

"I don't think she can see me." Lily explained, watching Socks' confused expression with interest.

"That's great..?" Socks seemed slightly freaked out, "I'm... glad you found someone to talk to.. Want me to call your psychiatrist? Do you want me to get a nurse?"

"What do you mean?" It was Leopard's turn to be confused. _Can't you see her, Socks? I can't possibly be imagining this yellow cat. _"She's _right _there!" The black cat pointed to Lily Mizzenpop, who stood as still as a stone.

"Nobody's there." Socks' eyes wandered around the cell, searching for the mysterious Lily. "Are you sure you don't want me to get Dr. Karma?"

Black Leopard ran a paw over her forehead. _Maybe I'm just sick and delusional. It happens to the best of us when trapped in an asylum.. Wait.. Maybe I _do _belong here. I'm seeing a person who died over two hundred years ago. _"Get Green Queen up." She begged Socks, hoping her other friend had the ability to see Lily.

Lily offered Leopard an apologetic smile, "I think you're the only toon who can see me, sorry."

Leopard blinked at Lily, "Why? Aren't you real?" She asked incredulously, feeling like she was on the verge of sanity.

"What did ...you ..want?" Green Queen asked groggily, peering into Leopard's cell.

Leopard frantically explained to Green Queen how she can see Lily Mizzenpop, the ghost of cell number seven – and how Lily was standing next to her. "So- can't you see her?" Leopard's hope fell as Green Queen shook her head no along with a couple squints of confusion.

"Why can't anyone see her!" Leopard demanded, letting her emotions get the best of her.

"It's okay," Lily soothed Black Leopard, watching her with sympathetic, crystalline eyes. "You're not going crazy." _How do you know? We're both in this psycho ward! _She wanted to shoot back. _You're probably just my imagination trying to make me feel better._

"No! It's not okay." Leopard was forcing herself to ignore the strange looks that Socks and Green Queen were giving her for talking to absolutely nothing. "Ugh!"

"Please let me call Dr. Karma." Socks pleaded, concern leaking into her meow.

Leopard waved a dismissive paw at her friend, "Go ahead. I don't care." She inwardly groaned; More medication and brainwashing ahead if Socks went through with calling her psychiatrist. A single tear slid from her eyes, falling onto the tattered bed. "I could have sworn you were real, Lily." The black cat sniffled to no one in particular.

"..I am.." Lily responded. "Don't you believe me? You're not seeing things."

Black Leopard didn't bother to respond to what Lily Mizzenpop had said to her. _There's no way I'm going to make myself look more psychotic. _She simply waited for the nurses to come and take her away to Dr. Karma's office for an emergency therapy session.

"Please," Lily's voice rang out, begging Black Leopard, "I'm really here. I'm a ghost, but I'm here. Remember the notes I wrote you?"

_The notes. _She did remember. However, the thought made her only more confused and frustrated as to what was going on around her. The black cat used her tail to knock the notepad onto the floor, never wanting to see the cursed thing again.

It took but a minute or so for the nurses to open the cell door, gently prodding Black Leopard into a standing position. She walked down the hallway with them, one on each side of her. _I hate these nurses more than any toon here. They are the worst. _Leopard sighed heavily, not looking forward to the meeting with the therapist, Dr. Karma. He never helped her with anything. She hadn't need his assistance until now.

The hallway exited into the lobby, where the front desk and offices were. "Here we go." Black Leopard murmured under her breath, preparing to go into Dr. Karma's office.

"Come in." He called, looking up from the paperwork he had been doing. "Ah, Black Leopard. How are you? How come Socks had to request an emergency appointment for you? Tell me what's going on."

Leopard nearly chortled at the fakeness of his tone. Doctors and nurses alike, they weren't happy to be working in an asylum. "Because I'm seeing things." She muttered. It was painful to admit that she was in fact going insane.

"What are you seeing?" Dr. Karma asked patiently.

"Lily Mizzenpop. She was talking to me." Black Leopard protested, not wanting to believe it was her imagination. "She told me about Roxy... ah.. what was it.. oh yeah, Roxy's Joyful Uber! And their escape..."

Dr. Karma sighed deeply. "Have you gotten enough sleep lately? I know your insomnia kicks in sometimes." _My insomnia? That's what he's going to blame this on? I think the patients are smarter than the psychiatrists and nurses. _

"Well, maybe not but-"

"Alright, you're just over tired. Nothing a little temporary meds won't fix." Dr. Karma dug through his desk drawers, pulling out a small slip of paper. _And here comes the medication. Got a bad cold? We'll get you some meds for that. Can't sleep? We gets meds for that, too. Seeing a ghost from two hundred years ago? Don't worry bro, meds will solve that!_

"Right." Leopard muttered, watching as Dr. Karma scribbled a prescription for the drug.

Dr. Karma smiled at Black Leopard, "I'll give this to the medical department. You should be able to start using it as soon as the order is processed.. So.. two days tops. For now, go on back and try to get rested up. Everything will work out."

Another aspect about the institution that annoyed Leopard beyond repent was the way they treated "mentally unstable" patients. They had labeled Leopard as one ever since the black cat had been thrown in the asylum. "Bye." The black cat turned to leave, walking out the office and down to the hallway, nurses a few feet behind.

As the trio approached cell number seven, one of the nurses unlocked the door, allowing Black Leopard in. The nurses shut the door, leaving without a word spoken between them.

Socks, Green Queen and the patients in their shared wing of the mental institution weren't there anymore, probably out to scheduled breakfast. "Whatever." The black cat murmured, not caring if she missed breakfast. Leopard plopped herself down onto the cold, concrete of a floor. Immediately, her eyes spotted the notepad, filled with Lily's writing.

_She wrote on the notepad. She _had _to have been here. _"Lily?" She whispered into the darkness. "Please, _please _tell me you're there. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You have to be real! Please, Lily!" Black Leopard begged, a soft sob erupting from her. "Please.." She croaked, wanting Lily Mizzenpop to come back and prove she wasn't seeing things.

Loneliness crept in as the minutes ticked on without a word or any sign of the ghost.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Author's Note: **That took waaaay longer than expected and I'm really sorry. I mean it. I was terrible and you can yell at me all you want in reviews. I want to finish this fanfiction before the end of the month and HOPEFULLY that will make it up to anyone whose been patiently waiting for the next chapter. (Well.. here it is..) Again, this is for the real Lily Mizzenpop of whom is amazing. I haven't been working on this because I thought I lost the plotline and it turns out it was in the wrong notebook.. but anyway, it's found. Hooray.

So omg, I got a review from IrkenLily: First of all, thank you so much for taking your time to review. That means a lot. And I apologize to you the most since you wrote in your review that you hoped I'd update soon.. and that didn't happen. ;_;

Okay, enough of my mindless chatter. I'll be updating in a couple days.


	3. Chapter Three

**Flowers for a Ghost**

Chapter Three

"She was just my imagination." Black Leopard recited to Socks, weeks after the incident. Nothing had happened since then; Nothing that would prove Lily Mizzenpop had visited the black cat and spoken to her.

Socks offered a small smile to her friend, "Glad you're over it." _But I'm not. _Leopard wanted to protest, but bit her tongue knowing it would result in something negative. When Lily was talking to her, Leopard felt a connection with the toon – one she didn't establish with anyone else. Maybe it was the fact they could rant about the institution from experience or because Leopard desperately needed someone new. Lily had brought life to the dark, gloomy place.

"Yeah." Leopard agreed, halfheartedly. _I'm thankful that Socks wants to help me and keep me away from.. the _dark _side of the asylum but this isn't helping. It's only making me feel more lonely than I need to be._

The medication that was prescribed didn't do anything. Thoughts of confusion and lonesome tagged at her mind, keeping Leopard awake. It felt like she lost a friend ever since Lily Mizzenpop stopped talking. _Which is absolutely preposterous. She _was _real, right? _A jointed effort of nurses and doctors had been working to free her of doubts.

It was clear the black cat had fell into a pit of depression. Even Socks and Green Queen hadn't been able to appease Black Leopard recently. She became more distant and aloof to the world around her.

She sauntered over to her bed, sitting on the semi-soft surface. It was rickety and old, but all patients were forced to make do with what resources they were given. Like today, for example, all the more trusted, sane toons had been given a couple sheets of paper, some glue, crayons and a scissors. Nurses stood by, in case anyone misused the equipment. The supplies were scattered around Black Leopard's cell, collecting dust. There was no point in making a craft if there was no one in her life to give it to.

"Hey you." Black Leopard looked up immediately. That was her father's voice. It was smooth and welcoming, just as she had remembered it. But he wasn't in sight. _My father is dead. He can't possibly be here._

She brushed it off, thinking it was only imagination or maybe the medication getting to her head. Black Leopard knew something was up, though, after hearing the voice call out to her a second time. "How's my baby girl?"

Black Leopard looked around frantically; Still nobody except for Socks and Green Queen. "Uh.. Dad?" She asked quietly, not wanting anyone to hear.

There was no response from her dad. Instead, she heard Socks talking to her. "What was that?" Leopard wondered, not quite catching what she had said.

Socks looked up from the puzzle she was solving. "I didn't say anything."

"Oh," Black Leopard bit the inside of her lip. _This is weird. Am I hearing things again? What is the medication doing to me? _"Okay, sorry then."

Socks chuckled, "No worries." And returned to her puzzle of a gag tree orchard.

Black Leopard's ears caught another voice, "Honey, where's your puzzle?" _Mom? What are you doing here? You and dad.. You're dead!_

"I.. I don't have one.." She murmured, looking around the cell for the source of the voice but there wasn't anything to be found.

Socks' head lifted from the puzzle once more, "Don't have one what?"

"You know.. a puzzle."

Socks nodded, apparently deeming the answer good enough and not prying for more. Leopard was thankful for that. She didn't want her friend to call the nurses again and get an appointment with any of the doctors. Seeing Dr. Karma every two days was bad enough.

Black Leopard let out a long sigh, wanting to clear her mind of what just happened. _I'm dreaming these things up. There's nobody talking to me. _And just like that, voices from all the toons she had met over the years resounded in her ears. Each one colliding with another, making anything they were saying comprehensible.

Her black paws immediately shot up to cover them, but it did no good. It was as if the voices were running circles around Leopard; She couldn't keep up no matter how hard she tried. "Stop.." She begged them, closing her eyes. The taunts of the voices became louder, overwhelming even. "Go away!"

"Who are you talk-" Socks tried to ask her, instantly worried for her friend who was shouting at nothing.

Leopard's eyes shot open, staring incredulously at Socks, "Shut up!" Her voice screamed, though it seemed to get lost in the mix of over voices running through her head.

Needless to say, the nurses appeared in record time, though didn't make a move to help her. She heard phrases like "just psycho" and "what this building is for". Leopard crashed to the floor in an attempt to escape blaring voices of toons.

They stopped almost instantly as the black cat hit her cell floor. Black Leopard held her throbbing head, not quite sure what to think. The voices left her feeling hollow; The disappearance of Lily only added to the sick feeling.

Everything seemed mixed and jumbled. She didn't know what was real. _The voices were just in my head.. _Black Leopard told herself, knowing there wasn't any other possibility. "They weren't really here." Came the thought, placed into a sentence said aloud.

Black Leopard let her head drop to the floor, a sense of calm washing over her. As of late, the toon had been terrorized by the fear she may be going crazy after all. _What if it's just me who thinks I don't belong here? ..And then there's Lily, but she hasn't said a word to me for weeks.. maybe even a month._ Black Leopard had a hard time accepting and understanding the fact Lily Mizzenpop would never be coming back. She was the one person who seemingly comprehended her feelings and problems. It would have been a wonderful friendship.

Her state of depression hit head on when realizing her head was laying on one of the notes Lily Mizzenpop had written her. "Where are you, Lily?" She asked aloud, in desperation. "Come back and talk to me." Black Leopard added a little quieter, not wanting to alert the nurses or any other patients.

_Why did you have to go? _She wondered, a sniffle escaping her. _Great, now they'll really think I'm crazy if I'm crying over something "that doesn't exist". _Black Leopard thought, bitterly. _The nurses won't believe me no matter what I say. It would help if you came back and ..talked to me.. Just one more time, please Lily?_

Her sobs grew less discrete. Black Leopard knew she lost a friend, one that didn't seem to want to speak to her ever again. _Why won't you come back and talk to me? I thought you wanted to help me.._

Black Leopard stopped sniffling as she caught sight of something shiny in the corner, a scissors. She knew what she wanted to do was definitely against the rulesbut Leopard couldn't help herself. _I can replace pain with physical pain. It'll make me forget Lily.. at least for a little while._

"But.. I could die." She reminded herself aloud, and then it hit her. "I can die! I can die!" Leopard chanted, as a smile formed on her face.

The black cat moved quickly to where the scissors lay dormant. Inspecting them, she noted that the tip was curved – probably a safety mechanism to keep patients from stabbing themselves with it. There was absolutely no way to stab with these; Black Leopard was pretty sure her one chance would be to basically cut herself with the blade. _That has to be sharp.. or they wouldn't work. _Her paw took hold of the scissors, tilting it at different angles to see the gleam. The thing looked new.

"Now or never," she muttered to nobody but herself, the words serving as an encouragement to continue. She took a deep breath and slashed the blade across the other wrist. There was a dull pain amounting from the action, but Black Leopard didn't let that stop her.

She repeated the movement until a fine line of blood began to trickle down from the wound. The pain was stronger; Her body's way of begging her not to inflict more self-harm. After another harsh swipe of the blade, she yelped as it seemed to break her skin more than any of the other attempts. Blood gushed from her wrist, dripping onto the stone floor.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Socks yelled in surprise. _I guess my cry of pain gave me away.. _She thought, a frown tugging at her lips. It took less than ten seconds for the rest of the patients in that wing to begin screaming in terror as they watched the scene.

Black Leopard sat with a bleeding wrist, a bloody scissors and a pool of red in front of her. It took even less time for the nurses to be alerted and rushing into her cell. One of them grabbed the scissors, throwing it far away from Leopard. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The nurse screamed at Black Leopard, inspecting the deep gash on her wrist.

Black Leopard was slipping from consciousness and didn't bother to respond. She hated the nurses anyway; They weren't worth her time.

"Get her to the medical wing!"Another one of the nurses yelled, knowing they didn't have long before Black Leopard would be passing out from lack of blood. "Now! Let's go!" The nurse demanded again.

The black cat was lifted from the floor without a protest. _I don't care anymore. Let me die. _Black Leopard knew the blood loss would eventually kill her if she could slow the nurses down, but that proved to be difficult when barely conscious. "Let me go.." She tried, weakly, kicking her legs.

The nurses paid no attention; They seemed too focused on getting the patient to the medical area of the mental institution. _If they didn't, and they let me die, they'd lose their jobs. It's not because they really care about me._

The only sensation she could feel was the blood dripping, a slight tingle and pain. The world was getting dizzier and the black cat began to feel light headed. _What have I done? _"Le...let.. me.. down." She murmured softly, no force behind the words spoken.

The nurses voices were fading in and out. There was more screaming now; Black Leopard could tell from the panicked expressions that something bad was happening. She didn't care anymore. _I lost one of my best friends.. even if I had just met her. _Missing Lily was like missing a part of _her. It's like a puzzle piece.._

And without that puzzle piece, Black Leopard didn't care about the rest of the world.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Author's note: **Chapter three is up! It was supposed to be there yesterday but I got lazy. So I don't know. Thanks again to IrkenLily for your wonderful review.

(haha sorry I don't sound very lively. It's six in the morning and I haven't gotten any sleep.)


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